This is shaping up as a vital year for keeping the newest dreadful pest bug - the spotted lanternfly - from spreading into central Pennsylvania and beyond.

The spotted lanternfly showed up in America for the first time in Berks County in 2014 and has spread into at least 13 Pennsylvania counties already, including Lancaster and Lebanon.

The state Department of Agriculture, Penn State Extension and the landscaping industry have been attempting to control the spread by removing the lanternfly's favorite host tree - the tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima).

Lanternflies apparently need this weed tree to reproduce, although females will lay their eggs on just about solid surface, including vehicles, house siding, benches, and rocks.

That's where gardeners come in. Since it's harder to eradicate flying adults once they hatch and start flying around later in spring, the Ag Department is asking the public to look for and destroy lanternfly egg masses.

Now's a good time to do that... before the eggs hatch.

The egg masses look like a gray smear of mud with a waxy covering. Anywhere from 30 to 50 eggs could be in each mass.

Scrape the masses off the surfaces and into jars or plastic bags with a small amount of alcohol or hand sanitizer in order to kill the eggs. Just scraping them off and letting the masses drop to the ground won't do the trick.

Look for egg masses on tree trunks, on or underneath solid surfaces around the yard, and on or under vehicles, especially if you've driven to any of the 13 infested Pennsylvania counties that are listed in the Ag Department's lanternfly quarantine. (Those counties are: Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Chester, Delaware, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Monroe, Montgomery, Northampton, Philadelphia and Schuylkill.)

It'll also help to get rid of any trees of Heaven on your property. Those are nasty invaders anyway that seed around and grow into colonies that eventually choke out most everything else in their path.

Spotted lanternfly is distinctive for the lower pair of spotted red wings on adult bugs, which hatch in May and congregate on trees (and sometimes people) in July.

Adults pierce trunks, branches and vines, causing a mix of sap and "honeydew" (bug poop) that draws other insects and grows a potentially deadly sooty-mold fungus.

The bug is a particular threat to grapes, fruit trees, and a variety of hardwood trees, including cherry, beech, maple, and walnut.

Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding says this bug is a threat to destroy $18 billion in state crops and hardwoods.

Last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded Pennsylvania $17.5 million in emergency funding to help halt the spread of the lanternfly.

Coating the soil surface with sand is one way to discourage egg-laying of fungus gnats.George Weigel

If you grow houseplants or indoor seedlings under lights, odds are you've seen tiny bugs flying around the leaves.

People often call them "fruit flies," but they're really fungus gnats - one of the most common indoor pest bugs.

While they aren't terribly destructive on the overall plant-mayhem scale, the larvae of the flying adults live in soil and can do enough root damage to injure or kill young plants. The adults can spread disease from plant to plant, which makes them a threat in greenhouses.

Adults like to lay eggs in damp soil, so one way to discourage that is by laying a half-inch, fast-drying covering over the soil surface. Sand, diatomaceous earth, and a product called Gnat Nix (a gravel-like substance made out of recycled glass particles) are all examples.

Another effective strategy is to lay fabric dryer sheets over the soil as repellents.

Flying adults can be trapped by placing yellow sticky cards on pegs in the pots. Fungus gnats are attracted by the color yellow, and they're easily captured by sticky substances, such as petroleum jelly.

The larvae can be killed by drenching the soil with a product containing the non-chemical bacterium Bti (Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis) or one of several insecticides labeled for fungus gnat control on houseplants.

You might need to treat every few weeks since fungus gnats complete their entire life cycle in one month and breed year-round inside.

Yes, weeds already

Weeds such as this creeping speedwell are already up and growing.George Weigel

As you start to venture back outside, you might be surprised to see a lot of weeds out there that weren't there when you retreated inside last fall.

Some of them are cold-tough perennial weeds - ones that come back year after year from their own roots. A few of these even stay green right through winter.

Others are so-called "winter annuals," which are new weeds that sprout from seed in fall, late winter and very early spring instead of summer. These have become more rampant in the last 20 years as we've had longer winter spells where the soil is thawed and not covered by snow.

Examples of winter annuals that you're likely to find in your lawn and garden beds are: mat-formers, such as blue-blooming creeping speedwell and white-blooming chickweed; mint-family purple bloomers, such as purple deadnettle and henbit, and the one that's really ramped up the last few years - hairy bittercress, which sends up little wiry stems with white flowers on the tips.

All of those and most perennial weeds can be killed with a variety of broad-leafed herbicides, although most of those products work better when the temperatures get a little warmer. If you're spraying weeds in the lawn, make sure you're using a product that's labeled for use in grass and not a kill-everything, non-selective herbicide, such as Roundup (glyphosate).

Pulling and digging are instant and organic options. Larger and newly sprouted winter annuals are easiest to pull. You'll probably need a pointed weeding tool, screwdriver or similar sharp object to dispatch deeper-rooted perennial weeds, such as dandelions, plantain and hawkweed.

Whatever anti-weed method you use, the sooner you get weeds, the better. Definitely get rid of weeds before they have a chance to flower and create mature seeds that will drop and make your future troubles far worse.

Then either plant plants you want in bare soil or cover bare ground with mulch. Any little opening of bare soil is an invitation for one weed or another.